My kids BEG to take baths. It is quite possibly the highlight of their evening. But, it wasn’t always this easy. We’ve come a long way from the anguish of putting our toes in the water and the screaming of the thought of hair-washing. Here are some of the things we do to make bath-time…play-time (and clean-time)!

Bubbles. The only other place my kids are allowed to blow bubbles is outside, but with the chillier weather, they don’t have much of a chance to participate in bubble-blowing – except for bathtime. Bubbles are always fun for kids, and they are a great distraction to the real reason they are in the tub.

Hide and Seek. We put several bath toys in the water, and after playing with them for a while, I hide one object under a wash cloth while my child isn’t looking. He tries to guess what’s missing, and then the fun begins all over again. This is excellent with preschoolers on up. Start with just a few items, then move up to larger quantities!

Fill ‘er Up! The bathtub can be a super place to work on measurement skills. Take a set of measuring cups (plastic please!) into the tub. How many 1/4 cups will fill a cup? Or, use larger containers. How many sour cream containers does it take to fill a whipped topping container?

Bathtub Idol! Grab that shampoo bottle and strike up a tune! Kids love the fact that their voices echo-echo-echo! Bring out their favorites, whether it is “Old Macdonald” or the latest from Hannah Montana.

When my boys are feeling particularly anti-bath (which isn’t very often, but we do encounter it every now and then), we put on our bathing suits for a dip in the “kiddie pool”. By simply wearing a bathing suit, my kids take on a whole new persona, and their attitude does a 180 degree turnaround.

If you have some great ideas to share for bathtime, leave a comment and let us know!